Last year, when I reviewed the Samsung Galaxy Note II, I was surprised at how much I liked it – even though I didn’t care much for the size of other Android smartphones. I like being able to work with my iPhone using just one hand, and Android devices like the HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S III/S4 make that difficult to do.

But handling the oversized phones the industry annoyingly calls “phablets” requires a completely different approach. It’s pointless to even try working with them one-handed, and that changes the way you interact with these devices. For me at least, that makes them a lot more palatable.

And that’s why I’ve pretty much fallen in love with the hardware of the Galaxy Note 3, the latest oversized smartphone from Samsung.

The software … well, that’s another matter.

The Note 3 is about the same size as last year’s Note 2, but with a slightly bigger screen – 5.7 inches compared to its predecessor’s 5.5. It’s thinner and just a tad narrower than the Note 2, and noticeably lighter. It feels much better in your hand – make that hands, plural – than the Note 2.

The case is still made out of the same cheap-feeling plastic for which Samsung phones are notorious. But instead of having a smooth plastic back, the Note 3 has a faux-leather finish. Yeah, it’s still a cheap material, but it has a nice feel, provides a more stable grip and isn’t as much of a fingerprint magnet.

The back comes off, and inside you’ll find the microSD memory card slot, SIM slot and the removable battery. The Note 3 has excellent battery life – I routinely got two full days on a charge. It charges via a USB 3.0 connection, will charge the phone faste, and transfers of data will be much zippier. The connection is backward-compatible with Micro USB cables.

Inside the case is a quad-core, 2.3-GHz Snapdragon 800 processor and 3 gigabytes of RAM. The Note 3 starts out with 32-GB of storage (a 64-GB model is also available) and a micro-SD slot means you can add another 64 GB if you choose.

The Note 3 works with the Galaxy Gear smartwatch but the software for doing so isn’t immediately available on the phone. You’ll need to pair the watch with the phone – read my Galaxy Gear review for details.

The display, of course, is the main attraction. It’s easily the nicest screen I’ve seen on any current smartphone, and the specs bear that out. It’s got a 1,920-by-1,080-pixel resolution display, at a whopping 386.5 pixels per inch. It’s remarkably bright, with vivid colors. As you’d expect, using this phone to watch streaming video is a real treat. On my iPhone 5, I can’t really tell when content is standard definition vs. high definition, but it’s noticeable here.

The rear camera is the same 13-megapixel model found in the Galaxy S4 – along with all the same software bells-and-whistle – and it’s excellent. Thanks to its faster processor, it’s capable of capturing 4K video, though it’s not capable of playing it back on the device in that resolution. You’d need to watch it on a 4K-capable external display. Oh, and you’ll want to have plenty of storage available on the Note 3 if you plan to shoot in 4K – those files are huge.

Like the previous Note devices, the 3 comes with a stylus that slides into the case. When you remove it, the Note 3 auto-unlocks and fires up AirCommand, which gives you quick access to the phone’s pen-enabled apps. I imagine some folks might find a stylus useful, but for me it’s just one more thing to lose.

Like the S4, the Note 3 is bristling with apps that extend its capabilities. There are programs for voice recognition, fitness, translation, note-taking and lots more. Because this is an AT&T version of the phone, it’s also chock-full of carrier apps. And then there are the apps that come with Android. It’s safe to say that Samsung phones running on major U.S. carriers are the kings of crapware.

That said, the Note 3 does give you the ability to remove apps – or, in Samsung’s parlance “disable” them. When you drag an AT&T or Samsung app to the trash, you’re told its features will be “turned off” and they can be re-enabled in settings. Mercifully, the app’s icon does vanish from the apps list, but it’s still lurking in the system.

Almost as an acknowledgment that the Note 3′s software can be overwhelming, Samsung provides an Easy Mode aimed at smartphone newbies. It’s limiting, yes, but it’s also a lot cleaner and simpler. Samsung, why not provide a “pure Android” mode as well?

The Note 3′s connectivity is excellent. It uses the full spectrum of Wi-Fi, including the newer 802.11ac draft standard. It supports Bluethooth 4.0 and HDMI by way of its USB 3.0 connector. It’s got a Near Field Communications radio and works with the DLNA media streaming standard. It also has a slew of sensors, including a thermometer, barometer and humidity. It’s a weather station in your pocket!

So long, of course, as you have a very big pocket. The biggest upside to the Note 3 is also its biggest downside. I like to carry my smartphone in my shirt pocket, and that works fine for a device the size of an iPhone. With the Galaxy Note 3, it just looks ridiculous.

But it may be worth it. Crapware notwithstanding, this is one of the best Android phones you can buy, and it’s on my list of possible devices when my contract expires next year and I’m faced again with a possible platform switch.